Her Last Words by Kim Kelly

Author:Kim Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brio Books
Published: 2021-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

‘Got anything planned for today?’ Dr Yu asked, as she looked at John’s chart.

‘Planned?’ He might have laughed at her offbeat wit and her gold shoes and the little T-rex dinosaur clip holding back her thick dark hair, but a wave of nausea chose this moment to swash over him. He seemed to be getting worse, not better.

‘Yeah,’ she said, still looking at the chart, ‘you know, for Valentine’s Day?’

‘No.’ He closed his eyes, concentrating on not vomiting. ‘Is that today?’

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Not the romantic type?’

There was something about this Dr Yu that made him laugh despite himself – despite the sad fact that once upon a time he used to be romantic, not only on Valentine’s Day. He’d never needed an excuse to buy Thizz flowers: he did it just to see the way her eyes would flash with happiness, the way she’d give out a tiny squeal before she said, ‘Oh, I love them!’ Whatever he bought. He missed dancing in the kitchen with her. He missed singing to her. He missed Penny, too, for all that he hadn’t ever shown her the affection she deserved – the affection he’d felt all along. Another feeling crashed through him: anger. Not at himself, but at what he’d lost. Anger, at last, for the person, whoever it was, that had taken his happiness away – and, in a roundabout way, made him this unbelievably crook. He opened his eyes, and there was Dr Yu inspecting the cannula in his left hand.

She frowned: ‘Probably have to change this tomorrow, put it in a different vein – don’t worry, I won’t be doing it.’ She gave him that grin of hers, and he saw she had dimples like little half-moons either side of her smile. She whispered theatrically: ‘I’m not supposed to be here. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.’

‘Am I okay?’ he asked her; he wasn’t sure if he was even in the room.

‘Hm.’ That frown again. ‘Give it a bit more time.’

‘What does that mean?’ he asked her. ‘What’s a normal amount of time someone should be sick like this?’

‘Normal? Ha.’ She sighed sympathetically: ‘Think of it like you’ve caught a bad cold. It might last a couple of days, it might hang around for weeks. Difference is, with the temperature and bloods you’ve got, you need to be here, to make sure things don’t get out of hand – and to protect the public from whatever mysterious plague it is you’ve incubated.’

She made him smile.

And then she asked him: ‘Do you have anything you’re worried about? Do you need the social worker to come in, help with anything?’

‘Like what?’ He was suddenly worried he was the nutcase, needy patient: that hopeless guy who injures himself in a depressive rage and then fades away from septicaemia some days later. Had Gabby called and told them all about him? He was grateful Gabby was such a nagger – not everyone who needed one got a shrink who cared like she did – but he didn’t want to be that guy anymore.

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